The Sin

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

THE SIN

1 Samuel 2:22-25

22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD's people. 25 If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death.

NIV

First, we must deal with or consider the difference between sinning against our fellow believer and sinning against the Lord. We would think all sin is ultimately against God, but from this passage, it would seem we can commit an offence against someone without it being a moral issue against God. Let us consider what type of offence we might commit against another person. Would that be something like gossip, speaking out of anger, or perhaps showing off, being prideful or boastful, thus causing pain to another or making them think more highly of themselves because they are not prideful or boastful? In this narrative, it would appear the sons of Eli committed adultery, although we are not told whether the women who served at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting were married or single. However, these women who were in service to God could have been women set apart for God, as the modern-day nuns in the catholic church would be set apart, remaining chaste. If this were the case, then the sons of Eli sinned against the Lord, and no one could mediate for them, and thus God put them to death for their evil deeds. On the other hand, when we commit some offence against our fellow believers, we can resolve the matter before the Lord. We can go in the name of the Lord, seeking forgiveness for offending our brother or sister in the Lord. What is troublesome is that if we are the offended, two scenarios may be true. First, being offended may be a result of our thinking more highly of ourselves, rather than living humbly before God and man. If someone said something, or the way they said something, their tone or inflection of voice that hurt our feelings, then our feelings are self-centered, almost prideful. The other scenario would be if someone asks us to forgive them, and we hold back our forgiveness, but instead make sure they know how wrong they were, we would be in grave danger, for if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. However, if we live in humility and seek forgiveness, and give forgiveness, or we make every effort to live in peace, or harmony with all others, then God will empower us to live following his word. He will mediate between us, so we are in fellowship with each other. Let us be careful about those areas in life that would be considered sinning against God, whatever they might entail. But also let us make every effort not to sin against each other.